Investing.com - Oil prices inched up on Wednesday despite data showed an unexpected gain in U.S. crude inventories.
Brent Oil Futures for November delivery was unchanged at $76.29 at 12:17AM ET (04:17 GMT), while Crude Oil WTI Futures for October delivery also rose 0.03% to $68.55.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday that crude oil inventories rose by 38,000 barrels to 405.7 million barrels in the week to Aug 24. The API also reportedly said that stockpiles in Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 130,000 barrels last week.
Meanwhile, traders also assessed the impact of the upcoming U.S. sanctions against Iran, which will start to kick in from November while many crude buyers have already reduced orders from the OPEC's third-biggest producer.
Elsewhere, Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA said on Tuesday that it agreed a $430 million investment to increase production by 640,000 bpd at 14 oil fields, although some analysts remain suspicious whether this investment would go through, according to Reuters, which cited the country's political and economic instability.
"Heading into 4Q18, we expect rising non-OPEC oil production as supply outages abate and greenfield projects ramp up," Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC) said in a note to clients.
"Currently, non-OPEC supply outages are at a 15-month high of 730,000 barrels per day. However, nearly half of these volumes are in the process of being restored," it said.
Official U.S. fuel inventory and crude production data will be published on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).